Trial and error- Tue Oct 12 2010,

Trial and error

The Indian Express

Tue Oct 12 2010

That the run-up to the Bihar election would be a buzzing, feverish affair was never a matter of doubt — even as former alliance partners, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress traded insults, calling each other dengue mosquitoes and swine-flu viruses. Now, senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has set off another storm. Criticising the decision to concede so many seats to the LJP, Singh added that party chief Lalu Prasad’s biggest mistake had been to sever connections with the Congress in the 2009 Lok Sabha election. Singh, who was rural development minister in the last UPA government has considerable political stock with the Congress. But he has clearly said that his remark was not motivated by the desire to cross over, and that there was “no question” of rebellion. As an elder statesman of the RJD, he certainly has the authority to make an introspective statement on the party’s past mistakes.

In 2009, Lalu Prasad pushed the Congress to the brink when he announced a fourth front with Ram Vilas Paswan and Mulayam Singh Yadav, accommodating each other nicely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — and leaving only about three seats in Bihar for the Congress to contest. That decision cost them dearly. The Congress decided to go it alone, solidifying its intention to rebuild and shun difficult, strength-sapping alliances. Lalu Prasad faced a personal humiliation, as the RJD won only four seats in Bihar that year. The RJD’s “Muslim-Yadav” base has splintered, but Lalu Prasad may still manage to weave them together. It’s difficult to predict what impact the Ayodhya verdict will have on the party, and Lalu Prasad has never passed up a chance to remind everyone of his starring role in the Ram Janmabhoomi saga, stopping the rath yatra and getting L.K. Advani arrested. His phenomenal personal charisma and knack for survival cannot be underestimated either.

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